It took less than 24 hours for ‘The Little Mermaid’ fans to go from mocking Flounder to defending him

After Disney revealed a handful of special glimpses for the upcoming live-action The Little Mermaid retelling at CinemaCon yesterday, the majority of Mouse House fanatics specifically zoned in on Flounder’s disastrous appearance and disappointment for the fact that the movie’s horrid lighting prevents viewers from seeing anything. But despite a large portion of fans initially trashing the design of Flounder on an official poster, a growing section of the Disney fandom have apparently started defending Ariel’s best friend.

Over on Twitter, the dust has fully settled and the desire to get Flounder off our screens in a hurry might not be as apparent as it was just a day ago. Instead, some Disney fanatics have emerged from the shadows and unapologetically proclaimed that Flounder is actually a lot cuter than people are giving him credit for. In hindsight, this seems like a bold statement to make, but even ugly fish deserve a moment in the spotlight.

When you really stop and take a crucial step back, it almost feels impossible to trash Flounder seeing as beloved actor Jacob Tremblay is providing the voice for the animated figure. Furthermore, it seems unfair to completely judge a character without even seeing them on the silver screen just yet.

That being said, the team behind the project certainly do themselves any favors by crafting Flounder to appear the way that he does — especially when the OG Flounder is known to be a certified Disney blueprint. For those interested, The Little Mermaid swims into theaters on May 26.